Only 41 per cent of Canadians can name the Battle of Vimy Ridge as the country's single most famous victory in World War One, suggests a survey by a group that fears the country's military history is being forgotten.

However, awareness seems to have climbed from nine years earlier, according to the Dominion Institute survey and released Monday amid ceremonies in Canada and Europe to mark the 90th anniversary of the capture of the German-occupied escarpment in France.

In 1998, a similar survey suggested only 36 per cent of Canadians could correctly name the battle that most historians say helped define Canada as an independent nation.

Rudyard Griffiths of the Dominion Institute says he was disappointed and concerned that Canada's most important military moments may one day fade from the collective memory.
(CBC)

The 2007 survey was conducted for the Dominion Institute, a national organization with a mandate to promote Canadian history by the Innovative Research Group.

They surveyed 1,000 Canadians ages 18 and older between March 20 and 28 — and found the respondents fared even worse on other questions.

"Fully one in four Canadians we polled thought that Gen. Douglas McArthur — the World War Two U.S. general and U.S. war hero — was a Canadian hero in the Great War," said Rudyard Griffiths, the executive director of the Dominion Institute.

Griffiths said he was disappointed and concerned that Canada's most important military moments may one day fade from the collective memory — particularly one as important as Vimy Ridge.

"It's one of those stories that we tell ourselves as Canadians that reminds us of who we are and what we have accomplished," he said.

Among people aged 18 to 34, only 33 per cent in the 2007 survey could name Vimy Ridge as the most important battle, compared to 23 per cent in 1998.

Some people suggested the slight increase could be linked to the higher profile that the military has obtained due to Canada's participation in the war in Afghanistan.

"You take a little more interest when you're at war. One of our friends has a son who is in Afghanistan, so they take a little more interest," teacher Wayne Croft told CBC News.

Fifty-one Canadians have been killed and many others injured since the mission began in 2002 — including a roadside explosion on Sunday that killed six Canadian soldiers.

And yet, the survey found 62 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they believe Afghanistan will be remembered as a minor event or footnote in 90 years, the same amount of time that has passed since the victory at Vimy Ridge.

The survey also asked Canadians to name the famous poem written by Lt. Col. John Macrae. In 1998, 50 per cent correctly answered In Flander's Field, but that number fell to 45 per cent in 2007.

Chris Bell, a history professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, suggested that part of the problem was that the First World War happened so long ago, particularly for young people.

"For many, when it comes to remembering wars, World War Two gets all the attention," said Bell. "I don't think there is the same level of people being able to relate back to what the issues were and what the soldiers were fighting
about and fighting for."

The surveyors asked 10 questions over the phone on military history and the importance of military memory and contribution. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1.